EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southern Illinois gave up six runs off four hits and two errors in the fourth inning that spelled its demise as it was run-ruled by Evansville, 9-0, Tuesday at Cooper Stadium.

The Salukis (30-14, 14-6 MVC) looked to sweep the Missouri Valley Conference series for the first time since 2007, but struggled on both ends of the spectrum in the loss. They used all three pitchers and mustered only four hits in the contest.

Evansville's best hitter, freshman first baseman Kayla Forntner, hurt the Salukis with her 3-for-3, five RBI performance including a home run in the first.

"Their best kid (Fortner) hurt us all day and we didn't make a couple of pitches that we needed to make and they jumped on it and some walks and errors got us early," SIU head coach Kerri Blaylock said.

Katie Bertelsen picked up the loss as she was taken out and re-entered in the game, moving to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in Valley play. The Saluki pitchers combined for three walks and issued just one strikeout.

The Salukis were run-ruled by the Purple Aces (14-31, 5-16 MVC) for the first time in the regular season. However, SIU has been run-ruled by them in the 2003 conference tournament, when they dropped an 8-0 decision.